Walkthrough for the mission Icarus and Friends in the game Red Dead Redemption 2. This page covers all main objectives, key steps, or helpful tips to guide you through the mission smoothly. Whenever possible, the guide points out locations for key items and details interactions with NPCs, among other tips. To ensure maximum clarity, in-game screenshots are included for easy-to-follow visual guidance.
Quest Group: Chapter 6 - Beaver Hollow
Category: Story Mission
Prerequisites: To play this mission, you must first complete the mission Fleeting Joy.
To start this mission go to Doyle's Tavern in Saint Denis where you will meet Sadie Adler. You will talk to her for a moment about the latest events, etc., and then you will go outside and go towards your horses.
Sadie's contact, Mr. Bullard, agrees to take Arthur in his hot air balloon to scout out the Sisika Penitentiary.
Doyle's Tavern
World Map
Mount your horse and follow Sadie through Saint Denis. Sadie has an idea about how to check if John is still in Sisika Penitentiary. She wants to use a hot-air balloon for this.
When you get to the place where the balloon is waiting for you, you and its pilot, Mr. Bullard, will get into the balloon's basket and you will begin the flight.
Press the button to start ascending to the desired altitude. When the ascend gauge on the bottom right of the screen turns yellow, it means you have reached the correct altitude.
To fullfil one of the gold medal requirements you must keep the balloon at the correct altitude for the entire journey. Note that a portion of the gauge is marked with a slightly different color and that the center of this area is marked with a small yellow dash. Just hold and release the ascend button as necessary and try to keep the altitude gauge as close to this dash marker as possible. Be vigilant because this marker will move down.
When you reach the prison grounds, Mr. Bullard will take control of the balloon. And you'll have to use the binoculars to find John. He'll be in working in a chain gang on one of the fields.
When you locate John, the prison guards will start shooting at you and you will take control of the balloon again. Increase the altitude and after a while you will move out of their range and you will start your journey back.
Flying around Annesburg you will notice some O'Driscolls chasing Sadie on horseback.
Kill the O'Driscolls in sight. To earn the gold medal you have to get 5 headshots from the balloon.
Eventually, Mr. Bullard will get shot, and fall out of the basket and you will have to control the hot-air balloon again.
Your next job is to get Sadie in the basket. First, you have to fly over the bridge and then you should lower the altitude so that Sadie can catch the rope.
Then press the appropriate buttons and help Sadie climb into the balloon's basket.
Unfortunately, soon after that you will have a hard landing on the other side of the river.
Fortunately, nothing bad will happen to you during the landing, but the O'Driscolls will start coming in your direction. The first wave of them will come from the river side. Find yourself a cover and start shooting at them.
Next, you'll be attacked from the woods on the west side.
When the fight is over, you will tell Sadie that you saw John and she will tell you that the government has captured Colm O'Driscoll. Together you will decide how you want to rescue John and the mission will end.
After completing this mission, you will be able to play the mission Visiting Hours.